


Why Don't You Come On Over

by Ozan



Category: The Last of Us (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, American Football, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Sports, Will she be angsty? Or will she be fluffy?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:14:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26153281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ozan/pseuds/Ozan
Summary: Ellie and Dina are high schoolers attempting to navigate life. Will they follow their hearts or let their brains do all the talking?
Relationships: Dina/Ellie (The Last of Us)
Comments: 40
Kudos: 151





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> HIIIIIIII! Guys, you are so nice with your kudos on my other fics, I totally appreciate them! So this is a piece that I've been tossing around for a while now, writing on it here and there. I'm going to post the first bit of it, and if you guys like it and want more, please let me know! I think there's a lot of directions I can go with this one. I have loved every moment writing this one. Without further ado, enjoy!

“Down! Set! HUT!” yelled the quarterback. Immediately he sprinted from his position and looked for his target. He spotted her small form about 20 yards downfield, dodging the opposing team’s defenders. His window is small but if he throws now, he trusts she can catch it and run like hell.

He throws the ball and prays with everything he has that she catches it. He watches as the ball sails right into her fingertips.

“RUN ELLIE! RUN AND DON’T FUCKING STOP!”

She runs, heart pounding in her ears, breaths ragged. She doesn’t look behind her, but she can feel the presence of a particularly large cornerback hot on her heels. All she needs is 15 more yards. 8 more yards. 3 yards. She feels a hand on her ankle and tumbles to the ground, holding tightly to the ball. She won’t let it go.

Judging by the deafening roar coming from her left side, she made it. She takes in the moment. This is a huge win for her team, she and Jesse had been stressing over its importance for the last 3 weeks.

Ellie remembers the large cornerback who pulled her to the ground by her ankle. She wiggles the joint and finds it a little stiff, but nothing alarming. The real test would come when she stands up.

She refocuses her eyes on her surroundings and sees the boy who tackled her looking down, checking on her to see if she’s okay. He offers a hand out to her which she takes, groaning as she rises to her feet.

“Thanks, man, great tackle,” she says as she shakes his hand. “I’m Ellie.”

“I know who you are, not many female football players here in Wyoming. You’re a hell of a runner, I almost didn’t catch you. The name’s Owen.”

Ellie took her helmet off and smiled at Owen, “Good game Owen, see you again next season.”

“Same to you man, safe travels home,” she nods at him and turns around and begins to walk towards the crowd that rushed the field after their big win.

“ELLIE!” she hears a split second before she feels a warm body in her arms. She wraps her arms around the cheerleader and buries her face in her neck, taking a deep breath and inhaling the perfume on her skin.

“Ellie I was cheering you on so hard, that guy was fucking massive. Is your ankle okay? It looked like it bent at a weird angle when you went down.”

“Yeah, it’s all good, a little stiff but it doesn’t hurt to put weight on it. We’ll find out more in the morning.”

“It better fuckin be good, we can’t go to State without you, and I’m NOT giving up my ticket to Laramie and that fancy steakhouse up just because you fucked up your ankle and tried to play it off. Jesse told me he was going to pay for my porterhouse so you better ice it,” Dina said before letting go of Ellie. She gave the football player a bright smile and squeezed her hand.

Ellie smiled back, soaking in the look Dina was giving her.

“Dina!” exclaimed Jesse from behind Ellie. He took her into a tight hug.

Ellie watched as they shared the moment together. The burn of jealousy sharp and sour in the back of her throat. She looked down at her cleats and waited for them to finish their kiss, looking back up when Jesse finally turns to her.

“Fantastic catch dude! That guy was so big, and you just sped right past him.”

Ellie smiles brightly at the quarterback, “Man you know I couldn’t have done it without your solid pass.”

“ _ Uh oh, Ellie, bro, dude, I just love you man, you’re so great, I threw the ball and you caught it…….. _ ** Jesse, pal, friend, homie, you threw that ball in the air, and I caught it. You are so talented and amazing,” ** Dina mocked their exchange, looking at their blank faces and breaking out into a big grin.

Ellie was the first to burst into peals of laughter with Jesse right after her. “Oh, so you think you’re funny, do you?” Ellie asked with an eyebrow arched. She pulled her sweaty catcher's gloves off her hand and wiped it down Dina’s arm.

“Ugh! Dick,” Dina responds, shoving her pom pom in Ellie’s face.

“Okay, alright, break it up,” Jesse laughs as he places his arms between the girls and pushing them apart, “Hit the showers, son,” says Jesse in his best Joel impression.”

Ellie snaps to attention, “Yes sir, coach sir,” she says before hastily spinning on her heel and marching towards the locker rooms.

Once in the quiet of the girl’s locker room, she pulls her jersey and shoulder pads up over her head. The auburn-haired girl sat down on the bench to unlace her cleats.

After undressing, she turns the shower on hotter than she knows she should, but she knew her muscles would hurt in the morning and could use the heat therapy. She stands under the hot spray with her arms stretch out, hands splayed on the tile in front of her. Musing over the interaction she witnessed between Jesse and Dina a few minutes on the field.

After deciding she’d spent enough time in the water, she turned the shower off and dried her body, wrapping the towel around her waist and returning to her locker. She put on a clean sports bra and a pair of boxers. She was busy running the towel on her head when she heard the door open.

Ellie looked up from her towel and smiles up at the girl in the black and orange uniform approaching her. Dina stops about a foot away from Ellie. She looks her up and down, eyes pausing momentarily on Ellie’s exposed abdomen.

“Feeling better? Ankle still good?”

“Yes, I think I should be well enough for you to get your betrothed porterhouse.”

“Yesss! I can’t wait to feast.”

Ellie rubs the back of her neck with her free hand, “For free apparently,” she mutters.

Dina averts her gaze from directly at Ellie, focusing on a spot on the wall behind the other girl. “For free.”

“So, when did that start back up again?”

“A couple of days ago, he came over and we talked and stuff. Besides,” she reaches out and places her hand on Ellie's arm, “You’re always saying ‘a free meal is a free meal’ right before stuffing as much food in your mouth that you possibly can.”

“Hey, I got a hollow leg, something has got to fill it. It’s none of my business anyway,” she looks into Dina’s eyes, “All I want is for you to be happy.”

“Thank you, Ellie,” she says softly. “Good job tonight, yet again you save the day.” Dina steps closer to Ellie, letting her hand rest on the other girl’s bicep.

Ellie looks down at the small hand on her arm, “Well someone has to,” she lowers her chin on top of Dina’s head.

They stand that way for a few moments, taking in the silence around them.

It is Dina who breaks the silence with a whisper, “I need to go. There’s an afterparty at Mark’s house and Jesse asked if I would go with him.”

Ellie closes her eyes and inhales the smell of Dina’s shampoo, “Yeah sure, go ahead, don’t let me keep you.”

“Do you….do you want to come with us?”

“I would but I should get home and make sure the old man hasn’t fallen down the stairs and busted a hip.”

“And what are you gonna do if he’s crumpled at the bottom of the stairs?”

She shrugged nonchalantly, “I dunno, probably step over him and go up to bed. You know how I like my sleep.”

“God, I hope you never have to take care of me in my old age,” joked Dina, before backing away and heading towards the door. “I’ll see you Monday, Ellie.”

“Bye Dina, have fun tonight, be safe,” says Ellie before turning back to her locker, resting her head against the cool metal and letting out a deep sigh. After a beat, she puts on the rest of her clothes, packs her duffle bag, and heads out to her car.

She throws her bag in the back of the black Jeep and gets in the driver’s seat. Ellie turns the key and heads home.

* * *

Ellie wakes late the next morning, the sun had risen a few hours before she ever makes it down the stairs. She throws a pair of sweatpants on before she descends to the first floor and enters the kitchen, slightly surprised when she finds Tommy sitting at the island, drinking a cup of coffee.

“Hey Tommy, where’s Joel?” she asks around a yawn.

“He had to run back upstairs for his jacket, we’re going up to Teton for a couple of days. Did you wanna come with us?”

“Tempting, but no, I’ve got some homework I need to do,” says Ellie as she opens the carton of orange juice.

“Ellie, for god’s sake use a glass. What are you an animal?” berates Joel as he enters the room.

“Hey you can’t blame me for being an animal when  _ you’re  _ the one who raised me,” she replies.

“Whatever. Good game last night, that last catch was magnificent.”

“Thank you, thank you,” she says, bowing to Joel and her uncle, “If you guys want autographs don’t think just because you’re related to me I won’t make you pay. It’s $5 for everyone, gotta keep up my integrity.”

“Wow, you get to be more of a smartass with every passing day. Anyway, we’re going to be gone until Monday, I’ll leave some pizza money here for you, promise you won’t burn my house down,” Joel pleads.

“Yes, I promise to burn the house down. Should I spit in the ashes too or?”

“I’m going to call Dina over here and have her beat you up for being such a dick,” jokes Joel.

Ellie’s face drops at the mention of Dina, her mind shooting back to the conversation from the previous evening. She quickly turns back to the fridge and returns the orange juice to its proper location. She broods over her jealousy while Joel and Tommy talk about the forthcoming weekend.

“Ellie?”

She snaps back to reality. “Yeah? What’s up?”

“I was just saying goodbye kiddo,” says Joel with a smirk. He and Tommy head for the front door. “Seriously, don’t burn this place down! We can’t afford a new one!” he calls as they close the door.

Ellie watches as Tommy backs his truck out of the driveway and she throws herself down on the couch once they’re gone. She fumbles around until she finds the remote, then clicks on the tv and looks for something to watch. She settles further into the couch after picking a rerun of an old Dodgers game.

Although she knows the outcome the girl finds herself completely immersed in the game by the 4th inning. So much in fact that she almost misses the sound of her phone vibrating over her yelling at the incompetence of the pitcher.

“Hello - OH COME ON!! It’s not that hard to throw a fastball for fuck’s sake. Yeah, hello?”

“Jeez crabby, leave them alone, it’s not like they can hear you,” Dina replies.

“Well then you’ll love the fact that it’s a rerun and I already know how it turns out,” Ellie replies caustically.

“You’re such a ray of sunshine, speaking of, do you want to go hiking today?”

“Depends on if I get you all to myself or not.”

“I’m going to say that you do but don’t be mad when Jesse and Kat are in the backseat when you get in the car.”

Ellie let out a great, dramatic sigh, making sure to pause long enough for Dina to take it in before she spoke again, “Okay, fine, I’m bringing my guitar with us to annoy you with ridiculous songs.”

Dina smiles into the microphone of her cell, “Fuck, how did I know you were going to say that? Do whatever you want I guess, just be ready by 3.”

“As you wish, my liege,” Ellie replies.

“Byeee, Freckles,” she hears Dina say before hanging up the phone.

Ellie tosses her phone back onto the couch cushion before looking back to the game on the tv screen, no longer completely invested in whatever was going on. Her thoughts now occupied with Dina and the way she knows the sun is going to shine on her hair later this afternoon.

At 3:15, Ellie heard a horn honk from the driveway and she descended the stairs, guitar in hand. She set the case in the bag of Dina’s car and got in the backseat with Kat.

“Glad to see you still don’t know how to be on time,” Ellie jokes as she fist bumps Jesse.

“I’m glad to see you still don’t own any shoes other than those fucking Converse.”

“You’re just pissed that you have shitty feet and can’t wear whatever shoes you want.”

Jesse interrupts their playful bickering to ask Dina about the trail she had planned for them to hike.

While the couple is talking and feeling the need to distance herself from the impending pit of jealousy, Ellie turns to Kat, “How’re you today? How come you’re wearing long sleeves?”

“I’m good, I did a new piece on my forearm the other day that I don’t want sitting out in the sun,” Kat says while pulling up her sleeve to show Ellie her new tattoo.

“May I?” asks Ellie, looking to Kat for approval. Upon seeing her nod her head she slowly traces her fingers along the lines of ink. “Wow Kat, this one is fantastic. These get better and better every time.”

“Speaking of tattoos, yours looks like it’s healed well,” says Kat, taking Ellie’s right arm and tracing the lines she imprinted upon her mere weeks ago. Ellie watches her ex’s ministrations and doesn’t notice the look of death Dina is throwing Kat in the rearview mirror. Jesse does.

The four teenagers fall into a playful conversation as the drive continues, Ellie finds she likes the way Dina will catch her eye in the mirror. Her mind hangs on especially long to the time she receives a wink.

“Alright idiots,” Dina says as she puts the car in park at the trailhead, “We’re here.”

Jesse places a hand on his chest in feigned shock, “Me?! An idiot? The audacity. I might have to rethink my offer of a porterhouse next week,” he says with a grin on his face.

“Oh yeah?” Dina says, inching her way closer to Jesse, “You really wanna find out what’s gonna happen to you if you go back on your deal?”

“I don’t know. Do I?” he says, reciprocating her actions.

“Oh my fucking god you guys are disgusting, I’m leaving,” Ellie says, Kat, nodding in agreement. They both exit Dina’s car, shaking their heads in disgust. They rest on a nearby rock and wait for Dina and Jesse to finally get out of the car.

“Come on nasty fuckers, let’s go, we’re losing daylight,” Ellie chides as she removes her guitar from the back of Dina’s car. She tries not to look through the back window as she closes the trunk, resentment threatening to bubble up in the back of her throat, but she’s unsuccessful. Ellie catches Dina’s eye, frowns, and turns away quickly. She makes her way back over to Kat, slinging the guitar around her back.

Ellie and Kat are already taking their first steps up the trailhead when Dina and Jesse join them. Ellie is too engrossed in her conversation with Kat to notice the way the Dina conveniently removes her hand from Jesse’s grasp every time he tries to take hold of it.

They walk for several minutes, chatting and joking with each other, taking in the warm sun and small breeze. Every now and then they stop to look at a bird, or tree that one of them finds particularly interesting. If Ellie were to choose a sight to stop and look at, it would be Dina.

She takes in the way the sun reflects off her hair, the small sheen of sweat on her forehead. She notes the way that Dina’s smile is somehow brighter than the light filtering through the trees overhead.

After about an hour of walking, they make it to a lookout over the valley and Ellie takes a seat on a boulder. She pulls the guitar off her back and begins to strum random chords, pulling inspiration from her surroundings she composes a makeshift chorus.

“That’s beautiful, Ellie,” says Dina, sitting down on the boulder next to the auburn-haired girl. “How long have you been working on this one?”

“Oh, I’d say about a minute or so,” Ellie replies with a grin.

Dina bumps her shoulder. “Good one, no but really, how long have you been working on this one?”

“I just told you. I guess now it would be two minutes instead of one.”

“Jesus Ellie, you’re fucking talented,” Dina says. An easy silence lapses over them; they watch Kat and Jesse compete to see how far they can throw rocks over the edge of the lookout. Ellie continues to let notes fall from her fingers as the moments pass.

“So, what is it about? Your song, I mean.”

“Do you want the long or the short of it?” Ellie asks, not looking up from her hands.

“Long, duh.”

“You.”

“That’s it? That’s all I get? ‘You.’ What’s the short of it then?”

“The short of it was me not answering your question at all.”

“You’re such a dick, Ellie Williams.”

“You’d love to have this dick wouldn’t you,” jokes Ellie.

Dina gasps in feigned shock and smacks her counterpart on the shoulder, “Don’t be fucking gross,” she scolds before getting up and joining Kat and Jesse at the edge of the lookout, leaving Ellie to continue with her song.

Ellie watches as Dina stands near the wooden rails of the fence, Jesse coming up behind her and placing a hand on her back and dropping a kiss to the top of her head. Ellie’s fingers begin to pluck new notes. She hardly notices when Kat plops down next to her.

“You gonna tell me what’s wrong?” asks Kat.

“There’s nothing wrong,” mumbles Ellie.

“You say that yet you switched to playing in a minor key; which you and I both know, is not exactly ecstatic.”

Ellie sighs deeply and ceases her ministrations. “It’s nothing,” she replies after a beat.

“If it was nothing, you wouldn’t be setting the back of Jesse’s shirt on fire with your stare.”

“You know, even when we were dating, I thought your nose was pretty average-sized, but right now it’s fucking monstrous. So much, in fact, that it’s no longer in your own business.”

“Woah, that was a good one. I’m gonna choose to ignore the blatant rudeness of that statement and focus more on the fact that I have hit the proverbial nail on the head. You need to do something about this Ellie. You can’t just always live your life pining over Dina.

Even when we were together you were in love with her. She and Jesse break up weekly at this point yet you never make your move. She’s not gonna wait around for you forever you know.”

“Who said she was waiting for me at all? If she’s always going back to Jesse, choosing Jesse, shouldn’t that tell me something? She’s never gonna want me.”

“God, you’re frustrating AND stupid. Get a brain, Williams.”

“Whatever, fuck off,” Ellie dismisses.

“You’re gonna be the death of me,” Kat admonishes before rising from her seat and joining the other two. “Okay, I’m ready to keep going, who’s with me?”

“I am!” replies Jesse.

“Actually,” Dina starts, “I kinda wanna go down to the pond in. the valley here. When Talia and I came up here last time there were some beautiful wildflowers down there, I wanna see if they’re still there and take some back to her.”

“Baaaabe, c’mon let’s just hit it on the way back,” Jesse pleads.

“It’ll either be dark or we’ll be too tired on our way back,” says Dina, standing firm.

Ellie contemplates the situation for a moment before speaking up, “Jesse, if you and Kat want to keep going up the trail, I’m fine going down into the valley with Dina.” Ellie pretends to ignore the look Kat is giving her.

“Fuck yes, I really wanted to make it to the top this time. Thanks, Ellie!” Jessie shouts before turning and heading up the trail. “Bye babe, have fun getting your flowers!” he calls out over his shoulder.

Ellie turns to face Dina, noting the slightly irritated look she is shooting Jesse. She smirks inwardly even though she knows she shouldn’t be pleased with the discourse in her best friend’s relationship.

“Well,” Ellie says as she drums her hands nervously on her thighs, “Ready to get going? We’re losing daylight corporal, we gotta get to movin’ ‘fore the enemy gets a drop on us,” she jests in a crazy accent as she hops the fence and starts down the steep incline. The green-eyed girl looks back and notices that Dina is moving significantly slower than should be. Ellie halts and doubles back until she’s right beside her.

“D? Something wrong?” Ellie questions, she brushes her hand against Dina’s without thinking about it.

“I guess,” Dina replies, her voice laced with sadness.

“C’mon, what is it? Just because I’m shit at opening up doesn’t mean you get to be,” she jokes.

Dina chuckles and starts down the hill, “I don’t know, it seems like a few things these days. Honestly, I think it might have a lot to do with me and Jesse getting back together.”

“Really?” Ellie asks while trying not to sound too eager. “Why is that?”

“We’ve just broken up and gotten back together so many times. It’s starting to feel like that’s all we do. Like if we break up he just expects it to happen, and neither of us ever really changes our behaviors,” Dina exhales with a sigh.

“If I were Joel, I’d lecture about how that’s the definition of insanity, and how you deserve someone who would treat you like the only person in their whole world,” she says slyly and eyes Dina in her peripheral, “But I’m not Joel, so I’ll just say something along the lines of ‘that sucks’ and ‘do you want me to kick his ass?’”

Dina ducks below a branch and holds it aside for Ellie, “Watch the guitar, anyway, Joel sounds like he knows a thing or two and it would maybe be wise to listen to what he has to say.”

“I would agree, but don’t tell him he gives good advice, his head is already massive.”

“Like father like daughter, one could say,” Dina says with a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “I think it’s just ahead a little way.”

They walk in silence for a few minutes before Elle elects to pull her guitar off her back and begins to strum the same melody that she had when she was sat on the boulder with Dina a couple of hours ago. And then they enter the wildflower meadow Dina had been talking about and Ellie begins to play a bright deluge of notes. Each new string of harmony paired perfectly with the vibrant colors laid out before her.

“Aren’t they beautiful?” Dina asks while spinning around.

“Yes, you are,” Ellie whispers when Dina has her back turned to her once more. She doesn’t know her confession didn’t go unheard. The auburn-haired girl watches as her companion begins to pick a bouquet. The only sounds coming from the old wood beneath her fingertips. She decides to lie down on her back and watch the clouds roll by as she plays.

Ellie takes one last look at Dina before settling onto her back, guitar balanced on her stomach. She no longer plays any specific theme, only whatever chords come to her at the moment. She allows her senses to be consumed by the smell of flowers around her and soft breeze. Ellie doesn’t know how much time has passed before she feels a warm body press up against her leg. She looks down and ceases playing, setting the guitar aside and propping her head upon her arms behind her head.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

Dina lets out a shaky breath before speaking, her voice barely above a whisper, “I wanted him to want to come down here with me. I wanted to show him this place that means so much. I really thought it would be different this time you know? He swore up and down it would be.”

“Yeah, I know, for your sake I wanted this time to be different too.”  _ Lie _ .

“Do you think he still loves me, Ellie?”

“Yes, I think in a way he does,” she bites her lip and considers her next words carefully, “But I also think maybe there’s someone, or other people or whatever else, out there who are also equipped to love you the way you need to be loved.” Dina meets her gaze and nods slightly before looking back over the field.

“More wise words from Joel huh?”

Ellie smiles slightly and replies, “Something like that,” before returning her attention to the clouds now building overhead. “Hey, uh, does it look to you like it might rain?”

Dina breaks out of her languor and looks up, “Yeah, it might,” she sniffs the air, “It smells like it might.”

“Diiiid you happen to check the weather for this afternoon before you drug us up the mountain?” she asks, taking it as a negative sign when Dina remains silent. “Dude, really?”

“What?! Don’t be mad at me, you know you love me,” Dina teases while elbowing Ellie in the ribs.

“Hey!” Ellie scolds, “Don’t get me started, you know this is a fight you can’t win.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let’s get going before we get drenched,” she answers while offering Ellie a hand up from the ground. Ellie takes it and they begin to head back towards their meetup spot with Jesse and Kat.

Ellie smiles when Dina does not let go of her hand until several minutes after they leave the field of flowers.

When they make it back to the first section of low branches, the first clap of thunder rolls through the sky overhead. The girls look at each other and know they don’t have long before the sky lets loose on them.

As the clouds continue to build overhead, the wind picks up and begins to blow small bits of debris into their faces causing Ellie to move ahead of Dina in an attempt to use her body to block the worst of it. She feels the first few drops of rain hit her face, curses inwardly, and hopes it doesn’t downpour.

“Well apparently I didn’t manifest enough positive thoughts for it to now downpour and look where we are now!” she shouts as the rain pounds down around her, her hair sticking to her face and clothes hanging limply around her thin frame.

“Shut up and help me find somewhere with some fucking shelter from this goddamn rain,” snaps Dina.

“Geez okay crabby, here uuuhhh,” she looks around them for somewhere to go, “Here, look, there’s like a tree over there with big branches, maybe it’ll be somewhat dry under that.”

“Fine, as long as we can sit down, I’m exhausted.”

Ellie approaches the tree, “It looks like I’m gonna have to hold the branches up a bit but it seems reasonably dry under there. After you wet dog,” Ellie says and makes a gesture of politeness, holding the branches aside for the other girl.

“Watch yourself, I know where you sleep,” replies Dina while sitting down with her back against the tree.”

Ellie enters the small area behind her. Letting the branch fall behind them, leaving them enclosed from the rain. Other than a few leaks, it’s dry inside, but that also means the area is incredibly small. In an attempt to give Dina as much space as she can, Ellie stands hunched over against the branch, her back is beginning to cramp but she won’t dare complain.

Dina opens her eyes and studies the other girl. She thinks about how Jesse promised her a few days ago that he was going to be better, and then immediately proceeded to do the exact thing she broke up with him for in the first place. She thinks about how she was going to make some grand gesture for Jesse when he came down the hill with her to the field of flowers.

The charm bracelet that she’s worn for as long as she could remember is one of her most prized possessions and she had been prepared to give it to Jesse and declare – once again – her undying love for the boy. She figured it wouldn’t seem like much to someone who didn’t know her, but to those who did, they would understand the weight of her action. But it hadn’t been, Jesse to come. It was Ellie. It’s always Ellie. It was Ellie at her father’s funeral. Ellie who came over every time Jesse would say something and break her heart. It was Ellie who would smile and tell her everything would be okay and give her a hug and a kiss on the forehead.

It was Ellie who, when she nudged her shoulder, rested her hand on her thigh, or held her hand during a scary movie, made her heart race and brain go numb. But Ellie was just her best friend. That’s all she’d ever be right? All she would ever want to be. They’d been friends for far too long for Dina to mess it up over something like this. A crush? Could she even call it that?

Pulling out of the recesses of her mind and re-entering reality she notices Ellie trying to hide a grimace on her face, no doubt from the horrendous hunched over position she’s attempting to maintain.

“Ellie, come here. Sit with me against the tree.”

“I’m fine, really, I want you to have your space.”

“And I want you to come here and sit against this tree with me,” Dina shoots back.

“Okay. You win,” she relents as she sits on the ground next to Dina.

Dina looks at the several inches of space between them that Ellie is attempting to maintain. She groans and scoots herself into Ellie’s side, pressing against her arm until the green-eyed girl catches her hint and wraps it around her shoulder. Once she does that, Dina reaches up and interlocks their fingers, and rests her head on Ellie’s shoulder. They stay in that position for a while, unspeaking, listening to the rain coming down around them.

“El?” asks Dina, voice soft.

“Yeah D?”

“Give me your right hand.”

For once Ellie doesn’t argue, she wordlessly offers her hand to the girl she’d do anything for. Ellie looks down, curious as to what Dina was about to do. She observes as the girl separates their fingers and removes her Hamsa bracelet. Ellie is now extremely curious as to what Dina was doing. Her eyes go wide, scarred eyebrow shooting up her forehead when Dina slides the bracelet over her hand and begins to fasten it around her wrist.

“Dina, what are you doing? Hey, wait, no that’s like the most special thing in the world to you.”

Dina does not look and meet Ellie’s eyes, instead, focusing on the slipknot she is fastening the strings into. “Well, actually there are about 5 things in the world that are most important to me, this bracelet, I would say is number 4”

“Oh? Care to indulge?” she asks, as smile creeping up on her face.

“Obviously, number one is my mom and Talia. Number two would have to be the last photo I have of our whole family together. Three is the gold menorah we use at Hanukah. Four, we already know. And, uh, five is……five is you.”

“ _ ’ Five is you.’ _ It echos in her ears. It bounces around in her head. She is silent. She can feel the tension in the air, so she begins to giggle.

“Are you fucking laughing at me?!” Dina shouts and spins around to face Ellie. “Seriously, I say something nice to you ONE TIME and you laugh at me.”

Ellie calms down, and glances around, “Well it’s not so much you baring your very heart and soul to me, it was more the way that a menorah is higher on your list than me.”

“You dick!” she swats Ellie then settles back into her side, her arm automatically returning to its previous location, “When my grandmother carries you on her back out of Nazi Germany, you will rank higher on the list of my most important things.”

“Fair enough,” Ellie chuckles at the idea of someone carrying her around like that.

They lapse into another comfortable silence, the rain is letting up and they could probably make it up the hill in relative dryness, but they remain still, instead choosing to soak up each other’s presence.

“You’re number two on my list,” Ellie says, her voice weak and cracked.

“Hm?” asks Dina, turning her head up towards the girl above her. She’s so close she can see her reflection in Ellie’s eyes.

“I said, you’re number two on my list. And you do in fact rank higher than the inanimate object, my guitar.”

“Why am I so high up?” Dina whispers.

“I don’t have a whole lot in my life that means so much to me. My family, and you, and my guitar. That’s all it really needs to be.”

“Oh Ellie,” Dina says and presses their foreheads together. After a few moments, she moves her head a little and places a couple of soft kisses to her cheek. Their lips hover over each other, only a half an inch between them. Neither of them breathes.

Ellie can feel her heart thunder in her throat. She’s entirely frozen, terrified of anything that could happen next. She suddenly realizes that they’re engulfed in silence.

“The rain has stopped,” she breathes against Dina’s lips.

“That means we should probably get back before a search party is sent out for us,” Dina breathes back. She is the first to move and breaks away from Ellie, smiling slightly at her best friend. Her eyes are much happier than they were earlier.

Ellie rises from the ground, brushes off her pants, and lifts the branch once more for Dina to exit their enclosure. They step out into the new sunlight and begin to make their way up the hill.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are so awesome!!! Thank you so much for your wonderful words and kudos!! Enjoy!!

“Hey, Stretch, how’s your guitar?” Dina asks as she catches up to Ellie in the hallway, wrapping her small hand around the other girl’s bicep.

“It’s good, I just wiped it down when I got home and left it in the sun to dry out,” Ellie replies. Her face breaks out into a smile at the thoughtfulness of her friend.

“Good, I’m glad, I was worried about it, I know how important it is to you,” Dina says with a wink. Ellie laughs and turns down the hallway in the direction of the other girl’s class.

“So, are you excited for your obscenely large, free steak this weekend?” Ellie asks.

“Oh my god yes. It’s gonna be so good, I’ve been dreaming about it for a year. And I have a plan all worked out as to how not to look like a bloated whale in my cheer uniform the next day,” chatters Dina excitedly.

Ellie cocks an eyebrow at Dina and lets her curiosity get the better of her, “Okay, you got me. Lay it on me, what’s your plan?”

* * *

Ellie watches Jesse and Dina from across the restaurant. Watches the way Dina smiles at whatever stupid joke Jesse has made. She suddenly feels guilty at her ill thoughts towards her friend and looks away from the couple. She begins to fiddle with the bracelet around her wrist, her appetite for her dinner having disappeared.

“What’s up captain? You’re awfully quiet tonight, nervous about tomorrow?” asks the boy to her right.

“What? Oh, yeah Jae, I’m good. Yeah, nervous about tomorrow is all. It’s a big one,” she replies quickly.

He gives a small laugh at her response, “’ A big one” yeah you could call it that. Don’t worry Ellie, you and Jesse are great captains, we’ve had a great season and I have a feeling that it’s all going to pay off tomorrow.”

Ellie nods her head along with Jae’s declaration of confidence and allows herself to be washed in his good vibes for the impending game. Her thoughts about Dina and Jesse now in the back of her mind, she continues the conversation with Jae, discussing the strengths and weaknesses of their opponent. After about fifteen minutes, their conversation is interrupted by Jesse.

“Hey, Ellie, I’m going to go back to the hotel and ice my knees for tomorrow, Dina wanted to stay and finish her steak, mind keeping an eye on her?”

“Absolutely man, get a good night’s sleep, I’ll see you in the morning,” Ellie replies as she stands up and gives Jesse a fist bump, then she walks over to Dina.

“What’s up meat monster, you ‘bout finished with that whole entire cow yet?” Ellie teases.

“Shut up toothpick, you know how long I’ve wanted this, let me have my moment,” Dina says, and she cuts another hunk off her steak.

“Okay, alright, I’ll shut my mouth,” quips Ellie as she sits down. They sit in comfortable silence as Dina continues to saw through her meal. Eventually, she leans back and holds her stomach in feigned discomfort.

“What? Your grand plan not working out so well for you?” Ellie pokes fun at Dina when she lays her head down on the table.

Dina lifts her head slightly and throws a glare across the table. “Open your mouth again and I’m not going to cheer you on tomorrow.”

“Oh no, how ever will I be able to play if you aren’t cheering me on?” she asks, grabbing her chest and swooning.

“I can’t believe I gave you my Hamsa bracelet and this is how you repay me. Mockery and tricks,” she tosses her crumpled up straw wrapper at Ellie and it bounces off her forehead. “Now, if you’ll stop taunting me and help me finish this then we can get out of here and have a wonderful night’s sleep, I might even let you cuddle me.”

“Woah, I might get to cuddle you? Man, I better dig in then,” Ellie says with a chuckle, pulling the steak towards her and hiding the way her heart began to race at Dina’s suggestion.

They finish the meal and make their way out of the restaurant into the chilly evening air. Ellie sees the girl next to her shiver slightly and she pulls her letterman jacket off herself and drapes it over Dina’s shoulders. Their breath floats from their mouths in small clouds and the frost on the ground crunches under their feet as they make their way up the block to their hotel. Their hands brush against each other, and they look away shyly each time they catch each other’s eye for a moment.

They walk into the lobby of the hotel and Ellie stops in her tracks suddenly, “Hey, I just remembered I need to ask Jesse about one of the plays we were thinking about doing tomorrow. What’s his room number again?”

“117 I think?” replies Dina with uncertainty.

“I guess I’ll find out. I’ll see you in the room,” Ellie says as she jogs off in the direction of Jesse’s room. She reaches the correct door and knocks a couple of times, not paying attention to the sound of the footsteps on the other side of the door, she begins to fire off her question as soon as it opens. “Hey, Jesse, so about the counterplay we were thinking about doing tomorrow-“ She suddenly realizes that the person in front of her is not Jesse, but instead Dina’s fellow cheerleader, Shelly. “Shit, sorry Shelly, I thought this was Jesse’s room,” she takes in the rumpled sight of the girl in front of her, “I’m really sorry I know it’s kind of late, I didn’t mean to wake you up. I’ll just-“

“Shel? Who’s there?” calls a voice from inside the room.

“Wait, whooo?” Ellie drags out the question. She notices the look in Shelly’s eyes and her stomach plummets. She pushes past Shelly and into the room. Jesse is reclined on the bed, shirt off.

Ellie scoffs in disbelief, “How’re the knees man? Wouldn’t want them to hurt tomorrow, I’m glad you got someone to help ice them for you.” Her jaw clenches and her teeth grind together. Anger coursing through her body like a rogue river.

“Ellie, it’s not what you think,” says Jesse in a panicked voice.

“Save the clichés, Jesse. Right now you better give me one good fucking reason to not go back to my room and tell Dina EXACTLY what you’re doing right now.”

“Fuck, okay, I was going to tell her but then we got back together, and she seemed so happy. Just let me tell her, okay? Wait until after the game tomorrow and then I’ll come clean.”

Ellie is at a loss for words, she just stands there and stares at Jesse. “I…I expected so much more from you.” She turns on her heel and leaves the room.

Once outside in the hallway, she puts her face in her hands and takes several deep breaths. She looks around for a way out, spotting a door at the end of the hallway. She jogs towards it and rushes through it. The cold night air hits her hard and what little air she had left in her lungs is sucked out. Ellie coughs a few times, clouds rising from her lips, she watches as they float off into the dark abyss of the night, her mind reeling from what she just saw. Caught between telling Dina and not she slams her palms into the brick wall of the hotel.

A sharp pain runs up her arm and she looks down at the bits of red brick ground into her hand, marveling at the indents they leave when she picks them out, she drops her head to her chest and lets out a groan. She resolves to give Jesse his opportunity to be a man and tell her himself, whatever “being a man” meant, she’s thankful she’s not in any way attracted to them.

Ellie walks back into the hotel and finds her feet carry her to their shared room without any thought on her part. Pulling the key card from her back pocket, she slips it in the slot and enters the room. The bathroom door is shut, and she can hear the shower running, taking the moment of solitude she sits on the bed and thinks about how she’s going to not do the right thing by Dina.

Her thoughts are interrupted several minutes later when the bathroom door opens, and a wet haired Dina emerges and suddenly she’s caught up in thoughts about how she could never get tired of that very sight. For the rest of her life, she’d give anything to see a relaxed, freshly showered Dina walking towards her. But she won’t get the chance, because her best friend doesn’t love her back but the man she _does_ love is 7 rooms down and fucking a girl named Shelly. Who even names their kid Shelly anyway?

Ellie’s green eyes drop from the girl she loves to her red and sore palm. She hears a murmur of words, but her brain doesn’t register what’s being said until Dina is sat next to her and bumping her shoulder.

“What? Sorry, what’d you say?” she stammers out.

“Wow you’re really out of it,” Dina snickers, “Nervous about tomorrow?” she asks and then spots Ellie’s palm, “Woah there cowboy, what’d you do to your hand?” concern laces her voice and she gently traces her fingers over the angry red area.

“It’s nothin’ I just tripped on my way here and caught myself really hard on my hand is all,” she says quickly before rising. “I’m gonna go take a shower, ‘ts been a long day, and I wanna get a good night’s sleep and be ready for tomorrow.”

Dina chuckles at Ellie’s odd behavior and brushes it off as her just being nervous, “Okay, well have fun in there. Not too much fun though,” she adds with a wink.

Ellie’s face turns red and she grabs a couple of things out of her bag before disappearing into the bathroom. She turns the shower on almost as hot as it’ll go and steps under the spray.

The mirror has long since fogged over by the time she emerges and dries off. “Fuck, you gotta be kidding me,” she grumbles when she realizes that in her haste all she brought in was a bra, boxers, and a sweatshirt. “I didn’t even grab pants?” she says around a mouthful of toothpaste. She turns off the bathroom lights and exits the bathroom. Surprised to find the bedroom in complete darkness, she stumbles around until she finds the edge of the bed and pulls the covers back to climb in.

Ellie settles on her back with her hands behind her head and stares up at the ceiling. Dina rolls over and settles herself into the bigger girl’s side. She nuzzles her nose into the crook of Ellie’s neck and takes a deep breath.

Ellie can hardly concentrate on staying still over the sound of her heart pounding in her ears. She feels the other girl shiver against her side.

“If you’re cold you could always turn off the AC, at least that’s what someone with common sense would do,” Ellie says softly.

“That may be what someone with common sense would do, but that is entirely different than what I, Dina, will be doing,” Dina replies with a hint of challenge to her voice.

Ellie’s eyebrows furrow in confusion, “What is it that you plan to do?”

Her question is answered when she feels the pads of soft fingers make their way under the hem of her sweatshirt. The muscles on her abdomen flutter as she feels the fabric rise higher and higher up her body. “Dina,” her voice is low and choked, “What are you doing?”

“I’m taking your sweatshirt off so that I can wear it, because it’s warm and I’m freezing, now if you’ll fucking help me, I would greatly appreciate it.”

Ellie finds the ability to move and pulls the hoodie over her head and offers it to Dina who slips it on and wiggles her way into Ellie’s side, forcing her to wrap an arm around her. Dina’s left hand comes to rest on Ellie’s abdomen and Ellie almost combusts when she feels Dina trace small circles against the skin covering her abs.

“Dina?” Ellie asks softly, her heart pounding again.

“You keep talking and I’m trying to fall asleep, do you want me to be crabby tomorrow?”

“I was just going to say that I hope you know that you are worth so so much and that no matter what happens tomorrow, you are loved, and I will never leave your side.”

“Okay weirdo, I believe you. Now shush and let me sleep,” Dina replies, her voice tired yet soft. Ellie can feel her smile against her skin.

After a while they both begin to drift off to sleep, carried by the soft sounds of each other breathing. Just as Ellie slips into unconsciousness she hears a whisper come from her chest.

“Fucking finally, I wondered when your heart would stop pounding.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dude, this literally was not the way I anticipated this chapter going but I started writing and couldn't stop, and tada here is the product. I'm working on the big game right now so I should have the next chapter up in a few days I would anticipate! If you guys are still liking it let me know! I love reading all your comments!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go guys! The big game! I hope you enjoy how this chapter turns out! (More notes at the end of the chapter)

Ellie wakes up to a pounding on the hotel room door. Her eyes are heavy with sleep and protest greatly when she opens them. There is another round of knocking and she groans as she disentangles herself from Dina, who had at some point in the night found a way to thoroughly wrap herself around every limb Ellie possessed.

“Ellie if you don’t get up and open that door right now I’m going to shove my pom-poms so far up your ass,” Dina growls.

“I’m going, hold your horses, I have to find a fucking shirt because you wanted to disrobe me in the night.”

“Your loss was my warm, warm gain. Now go so I can go back to my peaceful sleep,” Dina says before rolling over. Ellie looks at her fondly, a smirk on her lips before getting up and pulling a t-shirt on over her head. She softly pads over to the door and opens it just as the pounding starts up once more.

“Okay, okay I’m here,” she starts as she opens the door and stops short once she sees who it is, “What the fuck do you want?” she asks Jesse, her voice laced with venom.

Jesse gives her a look of warning before speaking, “Easy, coach just wanted me to get you up he wanted to have a team meeting before we got started for the day.”

“Ooooh is that Jesse?” Dina asks, now sitting up. Her hair is completely askew and Ellie’s hoodie is rumpled and riding high on her waist. Jesse leans in the room and looks at his girlfriend, then he looks at the state of Ellie.

“Seriously?” he says in a charged whisper.

“Oh like you would have _any_ fucking ground to stand on,” she replies in the same angry hushed tone.

Dina is still rubbing her eyes, seemingly unaware of the exchange occurring across the room when she speaks again, “Babe, come give me a good morning kiss.”

Ellie rolls her eyes and lets Jesse into the room, sticking her foot out to trip him as he walks by. He stumbles on his way and Dina shoots Ellie a look.

“Seriously? It’s like 6 am. It’s the cold, naked light of day and you can’t not pick on someone before the sun even rises,” Dina berates Ellie as Jesse sits down where Ellie slept and leans in.

Ellie lets out a slew of angry curses under her breath as she disappears into the bathroom to get dressed, already fuming at the day ahead. She brushes her teeth a little too hard and her gums feel raw and sore as she exits the bathroom.

“You ready to go?” irritation evident in her voice at the sight of Jesse and Dina’s foreheads pressed together.

“Yep, absolutely,” he says as he presses a kiss to Dina’s cheek and rises from the bed, “I’ll see you later.”

They exit the room and start towards a conference room at the far end of the hotel. Uncomfortable silence surrounds them as they walk and Jesse can feel the anger radiate off Ellie.

“Look-“ he starts to say but is cut off abruptly by Ellie.

“Ah, nope. Stop talking. Shut up. I am not about to have this discussion with you. You wake me up, you walk in there and kiss up on her and act like you did nothing wrong. Speak to me about anything but the game ahead today and I’m going to kill you and shove your body in a drainage ditch.”

“What? Did you want me to walk in there and tell her first thing in the morning?” he shoots back at her.

“I wanted it to not happen in the fucking first place, Jesse. She fucking trusts you, she fucking loves _you_. And you just throw it away like its nothing. Do you even fucking love her?”

Jesse looks Ellie up and down, “Doesn’t look like I even fucking need to,” he spits.

“The fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“Figure it out for yourself. You’re the one wearing her bracelet,” he finishes as he pushes ahead and into the room where the rest of the team is waiting. Ellie takes a second for a couple of deep breaths and to set her face right before walking into the room.

* * *

“CAROLINA RED, CAROLINA RED, SET….HUT!”

Ellie sprints right, she ducks the cornerback and runs deep downfield. She locks eyes with Jesse and he launches the ball towards her. It’s a bad throw and it overshoots her by several yards. She curses under her breath and they reset the play. It’s 3rd down and they need to gain some yards this time or they’ll have to turn over the ball. They’re already down 10 points and they need to start making some good plays otherwise the season will have been for nothing.

“DOWN, SET, HUT!” shouts Jesse again and Ellie takes off. He spots their tight end, Dodson, opposite Ellie and rockets the ball towards him. The play is successful and Ellie lets out a long breath. There are 3 minutes left in the quarter and Ellie and Jesse continue to not mesh well. Ellie drops 3 more balls and she’s tackled twice. By the end of the quarter, she is sweaty and breathing heavily.

As they walk into the locker room, Ellie grabs Jesse by the arm and speaks in between her labored breaths. “Listen, you and I, we are not working right now.”

“No, we’re not.”

“I’m willing to put everything aside right now for this game. Because this,” she gestures between herself and Jesse, “only works when you and I are on the same page. There’s too much riding on this game for too many people for you and me to let whatever it is come between us. Okay?”

Jesse considers Ellie for a long moment before nodding his head and extending his hand towards Ellie to shake, “Thank you El.”

Ellie nods and turns away to go find a bottle of water to chug when Jesse grabs her arm.

“I’m going to do right by her, I promise.”

“I don’t care about that right now, I just want to finish this game.”

They step back onto the field and the next half of the game is significantly smoother than the first half. With the team finally working together in its entirety, they swiftly make up lost ground, but it’s not enough. In the last 10 seconds, they are still down by 5. Ellie and Jesse know exactly what it will take to pull the game off. In a final huddle, they decide to run their trick play. 

“HUT HUT,” calls Jesse and the ball is snapped to him. Ellie runs to him for the handoff and takes off down the field. But she doesn’t have the ball, Jesse has it and it’s enough of a surprise that he can slip through the defensive line and make his way downfield.

The last thing Ellie sees is him sprinting far ahead of their opponents before a massive linebacker plows her into the ground. She doesn’t see him coming and she can’t feel any of her body, much less take a breath, when he rolls off the top of her. She can hear the roaring of the crowd but finds it vastly unimportant, instead she concentrates on inhaling. She wills her body to wiggle its fingers, toes, anything. Anything to prove that she still can. Staring up at the sky she hears footsteps pounding the ground in her direction.

“El! Ellie! Babe come on! Get up!” Dina screams as she comes to rest beside Ellie on the ground. She undoes Ellie’s chinstrap and pulls her helmet off her head. “Alright, you’re okay, you’re okay, c’mon let’s sit up huh?” her voice is full of concern. She puts her hands under Ellie’s shoulders and helps her into a sitting position.

She’s found her breath and is now sucking air in deeply. “Fuck that cocksucker hits like a train.”

Dina lets out a laugh of relief, “I don’t envy you, now come on stupid, before Joel comes and carries you out of here.” She helps Ellie to her feet, pats her back, and then pulls her into a tight hug. “I’m so proud of you, you did so well, that was absolutely amazing.”

They pull out of the hug and finally their eyes meet. Everything Ellie has felt ever since she met Dina right on the tip of her tongue. She could swim forever in the warm brown of Dina’s eyes; and it’s taking every bit of willpower she has to not kiss the smile plastered to her face.

Dina’s eyes flicker to Ellie’s lips for a moment and they start to lean in. Ellie doesn’t know what possesses her to look up at that moment, but she does, and she sees Jesse a little ways away, wrapped in Shelly’s arms tightly. Her blood boils and instead of seeing the woman in front of her, all she sees now is red.

Ellie pushes past Dina and rushes towards Jesse. She can’t contain her anger any longer. She throws the helmet in her hand as hard she can and it connects squarely with Jesse’s back.

“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW!” she screams as he turns around in shock. Ellie pushes his shoulders and everything else drowns out. “YOU COULDN’T GIVE IT A REST FOR TWO FUCKING SECONDS COULD YOU?”

She reels back her fist and lets it loose, knocking him right in the nose. He stumbles back as blood rushes out. Toughing his hand to his face, he looks down to see the red on his skin.

Jesse runs forward and tackles Ellie to the ground. They wrestle on the ground and Jesse unleashes on Ellie. “YOU DON’T FUCKING KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT.” He throws a fist, it misses its primary target but still connects with her jaw. She can feel her lip split open. He hurls a couple more punches and they connect with her eyebrow and cheek. Ellie can feel the blood running down her face and finally, their teammates have pulled them apart from each other.

“You’re a worthless piece of shit. She never fucking deserved you,” Ellie snarls and spits blood onto the ground.

“At least I never was fucking around with Kat behind your back.” He shoots back.

Dina rushes in between them and plants her feet firmly into the ground before voicing her confusion, “What the FUCK is going on here? What the actual fuck is wrong with you two?” Her head spins back and forth between the two players.

It’s at this point when Joel arrives to grab Ellie by both shoulders and pull her away. Taking her off the field he steers her towards his truck in the parking lot. Once there she starts to rip off her pads angrily.

“You wanna tell me what that was all about kiddo?” he asks, his voice is devoid of anger and instead full of tenderness.

The auburn-haired girl takes a deep breath and rests her palms against the hood of the truck. “Last night, I found Jesse in bed with another girl.”

“Ohhh man,” Joel offers.

“And he convinced me to not tell Dina and instead wait until after the game today and then he was going to tell her everything, but then the game got done and I looked up and he was hugging up all on that girl and I just lost it.”

“I’m not going to lecture you right now okay baby girl? I’m sorry about all of this. I know it couldn’t have been easy,” he says while softly rubbing her back.

“Can we go home now?” she asks, voice small and sad.

“Yes, of course, let’s go get you cleaned up.”

“Wait,” she says quickly, “Can I have a hug first?”

Joel smiles at his daughter and pulls her into a tight hug. They hold onto each other tightly for several seconds before the break apart and hop into Joel’s truck to head home.

* * *

Ellie groans as she rolls out of bed to answer the soft knocking at her bedroom door. She’s surprised when she finds it’s not Joel on the other side of the door, but instead Dina.

“Hey,” she says gently, “Joel let me in, I hope that’s okay.”

“Yeah, it’s all good,” Ellie says and steps out of the way to let Dina in, closing the door behind her.

Dina regards Ellie firmly, “Sit down, let me have a look at you.” When the other girl sits down, she takes her face in her hands and moves it around. Taking in the split lip and various shades of purple forming across her face. “Oh, Ellie. What did you do?”

Ellie refuses to meet Dina’s eyes. Shame coursing through her veins, she can feel her face flush under Dina’s cool gaze.

“I’m sorry Dina,” Ellie says. She’s not exactly sure why she’s apologizing. She’s not sorry she went after Jesse for what he did to Dina. Maybe she’s sorry just sorry she did it in front of a thousand people.

“What are you apologizing for?” 

“I dunno, I’m just sorry. I should have kept my cool.”

“You wanna tell me why you lost it in the first place?”

She let out a large sigh and dropped her tender face into her hands. At this point it didn’t make sense anymore to lie to Dina, she was going to find out the truth eventually. “Jesse is cheating on you, and I found out last night.” Ellie stands up and walks across the room to lean against her desk. “I found out and I didn’t tell you because I wanted him to be a man and tell you himself, but then I saw him after the game, he was hugging her and not you. Treating you like you’re nothing. I just lost it.”

“I know Jesse was cheating. We had a talk about it after Joel took you away. What I was asking is, why did you feel the need to beat the shit out of him?” Dina gets up and crosses the room to Ellie, she stands directly in front of her, pulling her chin down so their eyes meet again.

Ellie’s voice is choked and small, “He wasn’t treating you the way you deserve to be treated.”

“And what way is that El?” Dina asks, her voice barely above a whisper. Dina’s heart is racing, she feels Ellie’s soft breaths against her skin. The smell of the air exiting her lungs intoxicating, she can feel her head get dizzy at their proximity.

Ellie’s words fall from her lips far easier than she thought they would, “Like you’re the only girl in the world. Like nothing else matters. He should have given you the moon and all the stars in the sky.”

The silence between them is charged. The room is silent except for the sound of the breeze in the trees outside and the clock on Ellie’s wall.

“Is that how you would treat a girl El?”

Ellie swallows hard. Her eyes looking anywhere but Dina’s eyes. She nods her head slowly.

“Is that how you would treat me?” Dina asks in a hushed tone.

Ellie’s green eyes slam back to Dina’s and they look at each other for a long moment.

“Yes,” she says with finality. “Dina? Are you mad at me?”

“No El, I’m not mad at you. I’m thankful I have you in my corner. You’ve been there all along,” she cups Ellie’s non-injured cheek with her hand and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to see you.”

“I could have waited forever and day for you to even look at me D.”

Dina leans up and presses her forehead to Ellie’s, “Well now all I can do is look at you.”

Ellie places her hands on Dina’s waist and they stand in the fading sunlight. Breathing in each other, not moving, not speaking. Ellie can hear in the background Joel playing guitar in the living room. She wishes for the moment to never stop. There’s nothing that could make it better.

“El?”

“D?”

“Are you gonna kiss me or not?”

Ellie chuckles softly and tips her chin forward to connect her lips to Dina’s. Their lips move together in tandem and Ellie only pulls away when Dina presses against her a little too hard.

“Ouch, sorry, split lip,” she hisses in pain.

Dina laughs and kisses the tip of Ellie’s nose, “It’s okay El,” she takes Ellie’s hand and pulls her towards the bed. “Will you hold me?”

_‘Til the end of time,_ she thinks, “For as long as you want me to,” she replies. They crawl into Ellie’s bed and Dina returns to the same position the two woke up in that morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAA this was actually really fun for me to write, I hope you enjoyed it! There is ABSOLUTELY more to come!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit guys, I apologize so much at how long this has taken. My life literally got so crazy and I've barely even been able to keep up with my normal stuff. I know this chapter is short but I figured I needed to at least get something out to you! I'm working on more right now for this I promise!! Thank you SO much for all your kind comments and kudos I love reading them!!! You guys rock! Okay, here you go!

Ellie sits in the office of her basketball coach, the hard wood of the chair digging uncomfortably into her back. She figures Coach Reid called her in to talk to her about taking over as team captain because Ashley graduated last year.

The seconds tick by and Ellie traces the fading bruises on her face while she waits. Her lip healed fairly quickly but it’s the bruising on her cheek that’s taking the longest. Her thoughts are interrupted when the door behind her opens and her coach rushes in.

“Sorry I’m late Williams, I had to pull a couple of freshmen off each other outside the cafeteria.”

“No worries coach, I’ve got all the time in the world. What’s up?”

“I’ll cut right to the chase. I can’t have you on my team this year,” she says, a serious look painted on her face.

Ellie is taken aback, “What? Why? I’m the best point guard we’ve got.”

“That may be the case, but I can’t have anyone on my team that’s going to start fights, especially in front of so many people.”

“It was ONE-time coach Reid, I’ve never even gotten into so much as an argument with my other teammates!”

“Look, Ellie, this isn’t just coming from me, the administration has had a say in this too. Even if I wanted to let you play they won’t let you. They’ve got a strict no violence policy,” Coach Reid says, the sadness in her voice evident.

“What am I supposed to do now? I was banking on getting a basketball scholarship to college.”

“I don’t know Ellie, I’m really sorry.”

Ellie stands abruptly and picks up her backpack. She walks to the door and looks back at her coach, “This is bullshit, fucking bullshit,” she says as she slams the door on her way out.

* * *

“Not allowed on the team?!” Dina asks in astonishment.

“That’s what she said,” Ellie replies while dejectedly picking at her french fries.

“Because of your fight with Jesse?”

“Yep.”

“And she didn’t even give you the opportunity to fight back?”

“No, she said that it came from the top, like school administration or something. Something about a no violence policy.” Dina listens intently while Ellie speaks, giving her the room to vent.

“So what are you supposed to do now?” Dina asks carefully. “You were hoping on getting a basketball scholarship to college. This is our senior year it’s not like there’s another chance at this.”

“I am so very painfully aware of that fact Dina, thank you,” Ellie says while rolling her eyes and putting her head into her hands.

“Sorry,” Dina says softly.

“It’s okay, I’m just trying to figure out what to do now.”

“Have you talked to Joel about this? Maybe he might have an idea of what to do.”

“No I haven’t said anything to him yet, I wanted to tell you first. I figured you could be a good voice of reason,” Ellie says, peaking through her fingers.

Dina gives Ellie a soft smile and tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear, “Well, you’ve come to the right place, Dr. Dina is in the house, and I’m here to tell you that it’s all going to be okay. We’re going to figure this out and in the end, it’ll all be good.”

“We?”

“Of course El, you think I’d let you do this on your own?” Dina says, lacing her fingers with Ellie’s over the table. Ellie looks up to meet Dina’s eyes and feels a rush of emotion fill her. She wonders what it is that she ever did to deserve someone like Dina in her life. She thanks her lucky stars.

* * *

“So you’re you can’t play basketball this spring because of your tiff with Jesse?” Joel asks calmly, setting his fork down on the table.

“Yeah, it’s nothing but some bullshit. How am I going to afford to go to school now?” Ellie’s voice is exasperated and her eyes are tired.

“I don’t want you to worry about school kiddo, it’s all going to be fine. We’re gonna be able to pay for it. What I’m more concerned about right now is finding a way for you to get your energy out.”

Ellie takes a bite of her chicken and mulls over Joel’s proposal, “We could start running again I s’pose. We haven’t done that since we left Boston.”

“I don’t know if my knees have another 9 miles in them anymore,” Joel says around a scoff, “Do you think Dina would start running with you?”

“It wouldn’t hurt to ask her. She has to stay fit through the winter anyway, it might be kind of hard to run in the snow.”

“Speaking of Dina,” Joel says slowly, testing the waters, “How’s that going, whatever it is?”

“’ Whatever it is’ is a very good way to put it.” Ellie puts down her silverware and sets her face in her hands. “I have no idea, we haven’t talked about it. I mean we haven’t even kissed again since then so….” She trails off.

“Do you want to?” Joel asks, suppressing a smile.

“More than anything. I mean, I know I shouldn’t feel this way about my best friend but I do. I can’t help it.”

“Kiddo, you’ve felt this way about Dina for years, it’s not like this is a new feeling. And right now you have literally every opportunity to go for it. I’ve made the mistake a time or two of not taking the chance and there’s been time’s where I did take the chance and my entire life changed for the better,” Joel says with a twinkle in his eye.

“I’m scared she’s not going to feel the same way back.” There’s a quiver in Ellie’s voice.

“Babygirl, if she doesn’t then she’s one HELL of an actress.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Joel chuckles and tucks back into his dinner, “Just talk to her Ellie.”

* * *

“Do it, pussy, just tell her how you feel. She’s going to open the door in a moment and you’re going to tell her exactly how you feel about her.” Ellie gives herself a pep talk under her breath. While she waits for Dina to come to the door she bounces up and down on the balls of her feet. “Come on, you can do this. You’re a big badass football player. She’s just a girl….just a friend…your best friend. Who’s friendship means everything to you and you wouldn’t ever want to do anything to jeopardize said friendship. Oh my god fuck fuck fuck,” Ellie’s eyes go wide as she starts to lose her nerve. Just as she makes the decision to bolt and as her right foot twitches on the porch, the door in front of her opens.

“Hey El,” Dina says as she pulls Ellie into a tight hug before she beckons the other girl into her house. “Okay come here, listen I found this thing that I think maybe could work for you.” Dina grabs Ellie’s hand and pulls her up the stairs to her room.

Ellie shuffles nervously on her feet while Dina digs through a stack of papers on her desk. The words she wants to spit out are caught in her throat and her tongue won’t do what she begs of it. She’s still battling with her inner self when a flyer is thrust into her hands. She drags her eyes across the paper.

**WOMEN’S CLUB HOCKEY**

**JACKSON ICE CENTER**

**OPEN TRYOUTS THURSDAY OCTOBER 20 TH**

**ALL SKILL LEVELS WELCOME**

“Hockey?” Ellie asks, and looks up from the paper at Dina. Her heart melts at the excitedly expectant look on her face. “You want me to try hockey?”

Dina nods fervently, “What do you think? How does that sound?”

“Well I mean, I appreciate the gesture but.”

“But? But what?”

“D, I can’t ice skate.”

“No you can’t roller skate, and I remember you found that out the hard way,” Dina says, looking smug with herself and sitting down on her mattress.

“They’re literally the same thing except one of them involves ice and the other one is wheels. Not to mention there’s a literal objective to hockey,” Ellie says while sitting down on Dina’s desk chair.

“Okay grumpy. Since when have you been the kind of girl to back down from a challenge? I didn’t realize you were a chicken.”

Ellie’s eyebrows fly up her forehead, “A chicken. Dina you know you can’t call me a chicken,” she points her finger and rolls her chair towards the other girl.

“Ellie you can’t gatekeep my insults for you. If I want to call you a chicken, I will simply call you a chicken. Especially when you aren’t even willing to try because you’re scared of falling down,” Dina says matter of factly.

Ellie stares the other girl down. All worries from earlier lost from her mind. All she could feel now was the needle prick of irritation at the forefront of her mind. “I can’t believe you called me a chicken. You KNOW I hate that.”

“What are you gonna do?” Dina says teasingly, leaning forward on her knees so that her face is inches from Ellie’s. “Huh? Big, tough girl, you gonna beat me up?” She smirks as Ellie crosses her arms over her chest, and fumes silently.

Ellie meets Dina’s eyes and holds her gaze. Dina can feel that she’s getting closer to Ellie’s breaking point. She can practically feel the irritation radiating from the other girl.

“You gonna shut me up huh? Ch- ch- ch- chiiiiiickee-“ Dina is cut off abruptly by a searing kiss. She’s stunned momentarily by the lips moving against hers.

Almost as soon as the irritation overtook her body, it leaves the moment she finally presses her mouth to Dina’s. It’s just as good as the other day and Ellie knows she never wants to stop.

Dina’s fingers tangle in Ellie’s hair and pull her impossibly closer. She’s overcome with the need to feel Ellie’s body against hers.

Ellie follows her cue and tilts precariously far forward in the chair, moving to place her body against Dina when suddenly she feels the support shoot out from under her and roll back across the room.

At first, Dina is surprised at what just happened, but when she sees Ellie rubbing her knees and cursing at the chair she bursts into peals of laughter. Her hand flies to her mouth when she accidentally snorts and then both girls are sent into fits of laughter.

Dina opens her arms and invites Ellie in for a hug. She revels in the feeling of strong arms around her waist and inhales Ellie’s scent off her hoodie. She presses a soft kiss to her jaw.

“At least try it for me El? They do offer skating lessons on Mondays. We can go together? Please?”

Ellie looks down into Dina’s eyes and considers her for a moment. She presses a kiss to Dina’s nose before speaking, “Okay, for you I will try. But right now I think you and I need to talk about something.”

“Yeah, you’re right." 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this has taken me so long. My mom passed away last month and I had to take some time off from the world for a little bit. But now I'm trying to get back in the swing of things and this was the first step in that. I know it's not a super long chapter but it's what I could get typed out in an evening. Thank you guys so much for your kudos and kind words!

Dina crawled her way up her bed until she was resting firmly with her back to the headboard, she smiled softly at Ellie and patted the spot next to her.

“C’mere eyebrow. Let’s talk.”

Ellie rolled her eyes but surrendered to the smaller girl’s wishes. “Eyebrow? Really? Can’t be more original than that?”

“I’m letting you crawl in my bed and you’re worried about what I call you?” Dina raised her eyebrows in jest, “If you’re going to be ungrateful you’re entirely welcome to sit on the floor.”

Ellie quickly shuts her mouth and gracefully bounds her way up the mattress until she’s resting cross-legged next to Dina. They look at each other in contemplative silence. Neither in a rush to speak first. The air sits heavy around them. Ellie stares at the subtle freckles that dot the bridge of Dina’s nose and cheeks. She knows she should be thinking of something to say. Charging forward with the conversation she fears could end her relationship with the woman before her.

Dina is positive she’s never been so in love with another human in her life. The way Ellie consumes her entire being. Ensnares every sense she has. She wants nothing less than everything Ellie has to offer. To be wrapped in her arms and never let go. To wake up every single day and watch the soft rays of light filter across Ellie’s face.

Dina is pulled sharply from her thoughts when Ellie’s face changes. Her eyes widen and she takes on the look of a deer about to be hit. Dina knows the look. The look of Ellie about to bolt. She knows she has to speak and fast. She leans forward slightly and places her hand over Ellie’s.

Ellie looks down at Dina’s small hand in hers. She musters her final bit of courage to tell the girl anything about her feelings. This was stupid, they should be able to tell each other anything. Ellie thinks back to their conversation in the woods.

“I….,” her voice is hoarse and low, “I feel like I’ve known you my whole life, and every life before that. You make me feel safe….stable. You’re the first thing I think of in the morning, and the last thing I think of at night.”

“El-“ Dina starts before she’s interrupted by Ellie's eyes shooting back up to meet her own.

“If I didn’t already know so much about space, I would have thought you hung the moon.”

“I’m going to kiss you now,” Dina says abruptly as she lunges forward to bring Ellie’s lips against hers. She lets the momentum of her body carry her forward and she soon finds herself in Ellie’s lap, her fingers firmly locked against the other girl’s scalp.

Ellie greedily accepts the body pressed so fully against her own. Wasting no time attacking Dina’s lips with the same fervor. Her love no longer shoved to the recesses of her mind she lets it envelop her fully, wishing for it to never recede. She drinks in the scent of Dina, she runs her nose along the length of her neck. Taking in the smell she could only ever describe as being ‘Dina’.

Ellie begins to nip lightly at the skin over Dina’s collarbone, she revels in the soft gasps she receives.

“Ellie-“ Dina chokes out.

“Hmm?” the girl replies lazily.

“W-“ Dina tries to say but suddenly stops as Ellie’s teeth are on her earlobe.

Ellie’s mouth hovers over Dina’s ear. Her breaths even and deliberate. “Dina. Will you be my girlfriend?”

“I thought you’d never fucking ask,” Dina says with a beaming smile. She places her hands on Ellie’s shoulders and pushes her back onto the bed.

* * *

They lay in comfortable silence together. Dina’s head resting on Ellie’s chest, she listens to the strong beat. She knows she could never get tired of that sound.

“So,” she starts, her voice is soft, she hums at the feeling of Ellie’s fingers against her scalp, “today is Sunday, and tomorrow is Monday.”

“Yeees?”

“They offer skating lessons on Mondays. At 4. I called and asked them about it, the slightly bad news about that is that it’s actually going to be almost entirely 12-year-olds. The good news is that means there won’t be anyone there to laugh at you if you fall, also I’ve decided I’m going to do the lessons with you.”

Ellie looks at Dina, eyes wide. She feels her chest swell with love and adoration.

“You’d do that for me?”

“Of course dingus, plus this isn’t just for you. I said it was just gonna be a bunch of kids so no one was going to be there to laugh at you, and you need a healthy dose of bullying. I gotta do everything around here so I might as well make sure someone is there to laugh at you when you have a cold ass.”

“You know, I really should have known there was an ulterior motive behind your actions. Actually, this is good. This is good because if I fall, I’m pulling you down with me every time.”

Dina sits up abruptly with a wide grin on her face, “No the fuck you’re not. I don’t go down. I never go down.”

Ellie’s face takes on a smug look. “Oh, you never go down, do you? Never? Never ever?”

Dina smacks the other girl on the arm, “ELLIE WILLIAMS.”

* * *

“Gooooood afternoon everyone, I’m Coach Linus and I will be your skating teacher, how many of you skated before?” asks the middle-age man standing before the group of kids. A few hands raise. Coach Linus scans the group before him. He chuckles inwardly at the sight. Of the 13 kids standing before him, two stand several inches taller than the rest. The slightly shorter one’s face bright and light, she’s smiling and glances at the taller one every few seconds. The taller one looks pale and scared. She grips the shorter one's hand tightly as though she’s afraid she’ll fall despite being on solid ground.

“Have no fear,” he continues, “You have no reason to be afraid of the ice. The ice is your friend and although it is cold, I promise it doesn’t bite and it won’t hurt you.” His eyes linger on Ellie’s face for an extra moment, hoping she understands she’ll be okay. “Today we’re just going to do some extremely basic things, gliding, marching, some swizzles. Nothing fancy. I have complete confidence in you all,” he claps his hands, “Alright, let’s go!”

The group files forward through the open door onto the ice, Dina steps out first and finds her footing. She looks to the girl behind her and extends a hand.

“C’mon eyebrow. You’re a state champion, don’t be scared of a little ice. Ellie Williams isn’t scared of anything.”

Keeping the words her girlfriend just spoke fresh in her head, Ellie takes a breath and steps onto the ice. She quickly finds that she really had no reason to be scared. She feels a little unsteady but it’s nothing she can’t get used to. Ellie pushes herself forward slowly, she glides a few feet and feels herself gaining confidence.

“Woo, good job babe, you look great!” chants Dina from the side of the rink.

Coach Linus comes to a stop right next to Dina and they make their introductions as they watch Ellie pick up speed.

“Wow, she seems to be a natural out here.”

“Thank you, Coach, I knew she’d be able to handle it. I just wanted to be here to support her. Although now I am thinking maybe it would have been a good idea to go over a few more of the basics before we let her loose out here.”

He furrows his eyebrows a little, “As in?”

“Well, how to stop might have been useful,” Dina answers as they watch Ellie hit the side of the rink shoulder first. The two bystanders cringe as they watch her get back on her feet, and they give her a thumbs up when she looks over at them again. “I think she might have it all figured out really. She starts and mostly stops I mean, that’s all you really need to know to play hockey right?” Dina asks with a chuckle.

“Is that why you guys are learning to skate?”

“Yeah, she can’t play basketball this spring so I was trying to find something for her to be able to do. And Ellie needs a challenge so I figured she could learn how to play hockey.”

“You care a lot about this girl huh?” the coach asks with a smile.

“Oh more than anything. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to teach her how to stop a liiiiitle more gracefully,” Dina gives a small nod and starts off towards Ellie.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, sorry for being gone for so long again. The good news is that I'm finally back in a good place and I feel like I can write again. This chapter is long overdue, I hope you guys enjoy it!
> 
> Disclaimer: I have never played hockey and I'm not an avid spectator of it so really I had to do some research. I'm sorry to all hockey players out there if I get anything wrong haha. 
> 
> More chapters coming soon! I also have some new stuff cooking up that you guys might enjoy!

**3 weeks later**

“D, do you think I can actually do this? Like seriously? I might actually be the smallest person on this team, I’m gonna get pummeled out there,” Ellie says, trying to convey her worry to her girlfriend. She sits on the bench in the locker room and lets Dina fuss over getting her jersey on over the large shoulder pads. Ellie took small comfort in that suiting up for a game of hockey was a bit similar to the way she would for a football game. A topic which Dina is quick to now bring up.

Dina stops her ministrations and looks at Ellie in perplexity. “El you’re joking, right? Do not tell me you’re actually worried about getting smacked around by some girls when you literally go up against behemoth men on the football field.

Ellie seems to pick up that she can’t win this argument with her current angle so she tries a different one. “Yeah, but on the field, it’s actual solid ground, plus the shoes I wear make sure even more that my feet can stay attached to said ground. Much more grippy. No slippy.”

Dina pauses for a long moment to think. Ellie’s eyes search her face for any hint as to what she’s thinking. She can’t find one. It makes her stomach knot a little. Just as she’s about to break the silence, Dina suddenly leans in. Their lips almost touch, Ellie can feel Dina’s warm breath against her mouth. Other things, things of slipping and falling and cracking her head open no longer really matter. She’s far more concerned with her very hot girlfriend, whose fingers are currently rubbing small circles behind her ear.

“Ellie…,” Dina says, sounding breathless. It sends a fuzz to Ellie’s head.

“D?” Ellie replies, just as breathless.

Dina brings their lips even closer. She just barely presses them together in a feather-light kiss. Ellie wants so much more.

“Ellie, shut up and go get on the ice,” Dina whispers before straightening herself abruptly. She throws a wink over her shoulder as she hurries out of the locker room to go sit in the stands with Joel.

Today was a scrimmage with the rest of the team. It was really just for fun, a good way for everyone to get to know each other. Ellie was grateful that Coach Linus also was their hockey coach. He was extremely nice and patient and seemed to have large amounts of confidence in not only her but everyone else who went out for the team.

After watching her for a few practices he’d designated her a winger because of her speed and her newfound puck dribbling dexterity. Ellie was by no means a master player but she could get from one end of the rink to the other without falling so she figured at this point that had to count for something. So far it seemed that the atmosphere among the team was friendly and they all worked together pretty well. Except for one girl.

Abby Anderson, in Ellie’s opinion, was perhaps the scariest 18 year old she had ever seen in her life. Dina liked to joke that she beat up the Rock and stole his arms for herself. They had never in their life seen someone so absolutely ripped. Not to mention she was smart as a whip. That girl could run a play. She just wasn’t that much of a team player, and she seemed to have some kind of weird hatred for Ellie right off the bat.

They hadn’t had any real confrontations yet, but every time Abby should have passed to Ellie or she could have helped her out in a pinch, she’d look the other way and then berate her for not doing better. Ellie could just tell Abby didn’t like her, and in true Ellie fashion, she figured she would hate her right back.

They were on opposing scrimmage teams today. Ellie couldn’t tell if that was going to be really good or really bad. She didn’t exactly have great expectations for the day, to begin with, it was her first time really playing and she still wasn’t exactly comfortable on the ice. If she had to guess she’d say she probably looked like a baby deer on skates, or something just as clumsy.

The two sides stepped onto the ice and assumed their positions. Abby stood across from Sarah, the girl chosen to play center for her side. Coach Linus was reffing this game and he stood between them in his striped shirt, puck in his hand, and smile plastered across his face. Ellie searches the crowd for Dina and Joel’s faces. She finds them along the centerline a few rows up. They both shoot her thumbs up and Ellie grins as she returns her attention to the coach.

“Ladies!” Linus booms, “This is a very exciting day, as you all know you are my very first women’s team and I’m so proud of how far you’ve come in just a few weeks. Let’s not take this game toooo seriously,” he looks at Ellie and Abby before continuing, “Your friends and family are all here to cheer you guys on and have a good time! Let’s get to it!”

Coach Linus glides forward to the center of the face-off zone, he looks between the two ready players and drops the puck quickly. The game is off. Ellie seems to register everything at half speed for a moment. She watches as Sarah ducks under Abby and swipes the puck out from under her nose. Ellie vaguely registers that she needs to be moving, it’s not until she hears Abby’s frustrated cry that she snaps back to reality.

Ellie takes off like a shot and is soon caught up with Sarah, Ellie darts left and Sarah passes the puck to her so as to keep it from an oncoming defender. The girl dribbles the puck as she heads up the rink. She begins to plan her shot against the defending goalie. Just as she gets her aim lined up she feels a huge hit to her back and she’s smashed against the side of the rink. Luckily, she doesn’t lose her footing and she remains upright. Nonetheless, the hit hurt and while she’s trying to suck in a breath she sees Abby steal back the puck and dart the opposite direction with it.

Ellie turns and throws up her hands, “Coach!!!”

“Keep it moving Williams, the ref isn’t going to call every hit you take. Show us what you’ve got.”

Ellie fixes her face and resolves to give Abby what for. The girl picks up speed and catches up to Abby. Ellie knows she’s not as strong as Abby and certainly not as big as her so she’ll have to be faster instead.

Ellie skates in and shoulder checks Abby, throwing her off balance just enough for her to swipe the puck and dart off. She doesn’t give Abby the chance to catch her this time and doesn’t take as long to size up her shot before flicking the puck right between Amanda’s legs and into the net. She hears the cheers and whistles from the crowd and for the first time she feels like she could maybe make something of this sport.

“Yes!!” Coach Linus yells, “Great job everyone!! Keep it up! You guys got this!”

The rest of the game went by in a blur. Ellie and Abby neck and neck with each other the whole time. After an hour Coach Linus blew sharply on his whistle and both teams slowed to a halt. They were all sweaty and exhausted, and the game was tied up. The coach could tell they were getting tired and decided he’d call it.

“You guys have played so well today, I’m impressed with each and every one of you. You should be proud of yourselves, really. Alright, go hug your family, I’ll see you guys on Wednesday.” The team started to skate off the ice but the coach had one more thing to say. “Hey, Ellie and Abby, hang back a second. I wanna talk to you guys.”

The two girls approached their coach, leaving a good amount of distance between the two of them. They were both red-faced and tired.

The coach took the sight of them in for a moment before continuing, “You girls are really very gifted players. I watch you guys put your whole hearts into what you do out there. But you two don’t get along very well it seems. Why that is, I don’t know, but I can tell you this, if you don’t start working together and getting along, I’m gonna have to make you guys do team-building exercises; which I can assure you will be more than just sharing a giant t-shirt that says “our get along shirt.” With that being said, shake hands and tell each other good game.”

The two girls looked at each other and for a moment neither thought the other would do it, in the end, they both swallowed their pride.

Ellie extended her hand, “Good game Anderson.”

Abby mirrored the action, “Good game Williams.”

“Good job girls, now get out of here,” the coach said with a chuckle.

Ellie turned and headed for the rink door, as soon as she saw Dina’s face she forgot all about her rivalry with Abby. She felt Dina’s arms close around her neck and she buried her face in the shorter girl’s hair. The smell of her floral shampoo will never get old to her.

“El, you did so great out there! I told you that you’d be fine, so whenever you wanna get on your knees and kiss the ground and tell me I was right then we’ll be even.”

Ellie threw her head back and let loose a laugh, her only reply to Dina’s proclamation was to rub her sweaty cheek against Dina’s.

“Ew, nasty, you smell like a sweaty man,” Dina teased, “Speaking of a sweaty man, go hug Joel, he was nervous for you out there, but he won’t say it so pretend I never told you.”

Ellie laughed as she sat to unlace her skates, “Okay you better watch it now, this sweaty man is gonna get you when you least expect it,” she said as she stood when Joel approached her.

Joel put his arm around Ellie in a kind of awkward hug, “Good job out there kiddo, you did really well. We might have found you a new sport after all huh?”

“You just might be right old man,” Ellie said with a smile.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look what I've got for you guys! I had the time yesterday so I decided to crank out another chapter for you all. I was gonna wait to post it but then it was just burning a hole in my laptop. 
> 
> Thank you so much for all of the kudos and kind words!!! I love you guys!!
> 
> I hope ya'll enjoy this! I thought it was about high time we got to see a little date between our two girls. 
> 
> Additionally, the song I mention at the very end is called Shake the Frost by Tyler Childers I highly suggest you give it a listen!

“Okay so, you just gotta hit the ball…less hard,” Ellie says while watching the small ball shoot past the hole for what felt like the millionth time. Dina grins smugly at the other girl’s building frustration.

“Well when I don’t hit it as hard it doesn’t go far enough,” Dina says while leaning on her club. Dina had suggested she and Ellie go on a date to the new dinosaur-themed mini-golf course. She played golf in middle school but she wasn’t about to tell Ellie that. Not when the girl was now sidling up behind her to help her line up her next shot.

“Babe, it’s easy, just hit it with medium force. Here let me just, it’ll be easier if I show you,” Ellie says while wrapping her arms around Dina to grab the club in front. Dina could tell Ellie was all business, so she figured she could take it up just a notch. She turned her head over her shoulder to try and look at her girlfriend. Their noses almost touching. She heard Ellie's breath hitch.

“Like this?” She asked while turning back to the task at hand and swinging the club forward. The ball rolled softly to the hole and fell in.

“Yes! Exactly, good job.” Ellie proclaims while pressing a soft kiss to Dina’s temple.

“Maybe you should help me like that more often,” Dina says hotly.

Ellie is busy lining up her own shot and answers absentmindedly, “Really? I mean you just got it in perfectly, I think you could probably handle it on your own no problem.”

Dina sighs inwardly, rolling her eyes at the statement clearly going over her girlfriend’s head. “Dude, really?”

“What?” Ellie questions as she picks her own ball up out of the hole. “I’m just saying, it's mini-golf, it’s not like there’s skill to it.”

“You’re a doofus,” Dina retorts, “But you’re lucky because I-“ she cuts off abruptly.

“You what?”

“Nothing, anyway, we’ve been in this giant room full of glow in the dark dinosaurs for half an hour now and you have told me basically no dinosaur facts. What gives miss paleontologist?” Dina questions as she wraps her arms around Ellie’s slim waist and looks up into her face. One of her absolute favorite things was listening to Ellie talk about the things she loved.

“Fair enough,” Ellie says coolly while looking around the area, “What is it that you want to know?”

“Ummmm, what is the oldest dinosaur?”

Ellie let out a contemplative sigh, “Well, other than Joel,” she cracks a smile, “If I remember correctly it was the Prosauropod, which lived about 230 million years ago. But it could also be the Saltopus, I think it fairly debatable…”

Dina listened as her girlfriend continued to school her on the various dinosaurs. Occasionally asking new questions and digging further into her girlfriend’s vast knowledge. She was content to be in Ellie’s presence and sooner than she would have liked, they finished the course. Ellie beat her by a mere 3 hits. She smiled lovingly as she looked at the scorecard, she folded it carefully and tucked it into her bag. She still had the smile on her face when she looked up and saw Ellie bouncing over to her with two hot chocolates in her hands. She welcomed the peck on her lips as her own cup was handed to her.

“Whadda wanna do now babe?” Ellie asked as she blew cool air on her own beverage.

Dina looked down at her watch, it was only 8:30, plus it was Saturday, she didn’t really need to be home until midnight. She deliberated silently for a few moments before deciding their next course of action, “Can we drive up The Hill? I feel like looking at the stars with you tonight.”

“Absolutely we can, honestly after this week, that sounds perfect,” Ellie says before taking Dina’s hand and heading across the parking lot to her Jeep. They got in, their hands once again finding each other. The drive to The Hill was peaceful, both of them singing along to songs that Dina would DJ.

The Hill was just as it sounds. An overlook above Jackson. Fairly secluded and it often found itself occupied by teenagers looking for privacy. While it offered momentary relief from the outside world it also provided an amazing view of the night sky, a view which Ellie could never turn down. Whenever she and Dina found themselves here, Ellie always took it as an opportunity to show Dina all of the new constellations she had learned.

Tonight was different, however, she found all she really wanted to do was take in the view of her girlfriend. She put her Jeep in park and turned her head to absorb the sight of the beautiful woman rifling through her bag.

“What’re you looking for?” She asked, raising a scarred brow.

“Uhhhhhhh, this!” Dina spouted while proudly exhibiting a lip gloss tube.

“D, you know I’m not really into makeup. I know I told you that you could beat my face sometime but I did not mean right now,” Ellie said while recoiling slightly.

“No idiot. That’s not what this is, although I do think you should live in fear of the day I show up with my makeup bag. No, this is something I have been saving for a special occasion. Something you and I will both enjoy.”

Ellie stared at her girlfriend in confusion. A feeling that was quickly resolved once Dina unscrewed the top of the lip gloss to reveal its empty center. Dina tipped the cylinder over and a neatly rolled joint slid out onto her palm. Ellie instantly perked up.

“Oh sweet, now that’s cool. Where’d you get this?”

“It’s just something I’ve been saving for a rainy day. Or in our case, a starry night. You like?”

“Oh very much so, you know I haven’t smoked since your 18th birthday party in August,” Ellie said with wonder as she carefully examined the joint. “This is wonderful babe, you’re so awesome,” she said with sincerity before leaning across the center console to kiss Dina softly on the lips. She tried to pull back when she felt the kiss was over but Dina laced her fingers deep in Ellie’s hair, holding her in place. She deepened the kiss and soon they were fully making out. 

When they eventually pulled apart they were both out of breath. Ellie placed several kisses against Dina’s jawline before moving away to open the glove box. She pulled out the blue lighter she kept for times like these and handed it to her girlfriend.

“The honor is all yours madam.”

“Wow, such a gentleman. How could I have ever accepted anything lesser than this before.”

Ellie smirked at Dina’s comment. “It’s beyond me, truly. Who knew all this,” she gestured at her lanky form, “was right under your nose this whole time.”

Dina took a long moment to appreciate Ellie before muttering, “Yeah well I do like when you’re under me, you got that much right.” She put the joint in her mouth and lit it as Ellie’s ears turned red.

Ellie longingly watches Dina as she takes a long pull off the joint. She holds the smoke in for several seconds before slowly exhaling. She passes it off to Ellie while she leans back and gets more comfortable in her seat, drawing a knee up against her chest. The girl then busies herself with choosing a playlist to put on softly in the background. When she looks up she finds Ellie blowing smoke rings at the steering wheel.

Ellie looks at Dina, smoke still flowing from her nose, when she hears a small giggle escape her lips.

“What’s so funny, goober?”

“Nothin,” Dina says while a smirk finds its home on her face, “Am I not allowed to just admire you?”

“No, that one costs extra, unfortunately,” Ellie says smugly, she draws deeply on the joint before handing it to Dina.

Dina seems to consider her reply over a hit. She refrains from speaking until she’s done exhaling. “And what might that cost me then?”

“Oh, I don’t know if you could afford my prices.”

“I’m sure whatever you charge I’ve spent before.”

Ellie inhales deeply while thinking about Dina’s words. “Even if you have spent that much I bet my product is significantly better than whatever else you’ve had.”

“There’s only one way to find out if we both have what we claim to.”

Ellie debates her next move. She grins inwardly at the thought of the still laid flat seats behind the pair of them. She looks deep into Dina’s eyes before raising her scarred eyebrow.

Dina watches as Ellie’s face changes. She leans closer to her girlfriend, lips grazing the corner of Ellie’s jaw. “I can afford it,” she says hotly and before she nips lightly at Ellie’s neck. When she pulls back she looks into Ellie’s face before suddenly moving to climb between their two seats and into the back. 

Ellie takes a brief moment to put the joint out on the cap on the bottle of pop she had bought at the mini-golf place, before climbing after Dina. She finds Dina and immediately reaches for her head. Ellie brings their mouths together with force, her tongue then tracing Dina’s bottom lip.

Dina allows Ellie to meet their tongues. Dina moans softly when Ellie sucks on her lip. Dina’s hands begin to roam over Ellie, fisting the material of the sweatshirt underneath them. It isn’t long before she longs to feel more, and her hands delve lower the reach the skin of Ellie’s abdomen. She traces the taut muscles there and relishes in the feeling of Ellie’s subsequent shiver.

Dina breaks away and whispers in Ellie’s ear as she gets hot kisses placed against her neck. “You like when I do that baby?” she moans before raking her nails down Ellie’s abs again.

Ellie responds with a sharp grunt, her hips bucking involuntarily. She repays Dina with a tug to her earlobe. Ellie then straightens herself up, settling on her knees between Dina’s legs. She places her hands on Dina, one at each hip. She slowly pushes Dina’s shirt up her body until it comes to a stop just below her breasts. Ellie trails her fingers back down and feels Dina twitch.

Ellie smirks, “You like when I do that…baby?”

Dina just looks at Ellie hungrily. “Off,” is all she has to say.

Ellie thinks for a moment before raising her hands to the back of her neck and freeing the shirt from her body. She basks in the look her body receives.

Dina drinks in the sight of Ellie. A picture she’s sure will be forever burned into her brain.

“What’s on your mind?” Ellie asks softly, pulling Dina back from her thoughts. Her face is full of nothing but love and adoration.

“Just thinking about you is all,” replies Dina.

“Lucky for you, that one is free,” she teases.

Dina laughs airily before pulling her girlfriend back down on top of her, “Even if it wasn’t free, I have no problem with grand larceny.”

After that, all that could be heard was the sound of soft breaths and Shake the Frost through the speakers.


End file.
